Clothes-horse.



PATENTED NOV. 1, 1904.

T. I. DUFFY.

CLOTHES HORSE. APPDLIOATION FILED JULY 2, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STATES Patented November 1, 1904.

ATET rrrcn.

THOMAS I. DUFFY, OF NEWV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR TO ABNER OROSSMANAND A. VERE MARTIN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHES-HORSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 773,788, dated November1, 1904. Application'filed July 2, 1903. Serial No. 164,032. (No model.)

To all 1071 0177, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Tr-rouAs I. DUFFY, of New Orleans, in the parish ofOrleans and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clothes-Horses; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of referencemarked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved clothes horse or drier; and amongthe objects of the invention is to construct a device of this characterwhich may be made very light, while possessing ample strength anddurability, and which shall require but little storage space when not inuse and at the same time which possesses a large capacity for receivingclothes or other articles to be dried or hung thereon.

The invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth, and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clothes-horse made inaccordance with my invention, showing the same closed. Fig. 2 is apartial plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken on line3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a transverse view taken on line 4 4of Fig. 1.Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4:. Fig. 6 is adetail showing the manner of holding the arm in its horizontal oroperative position.

As shown in the drawings, the frame of the drier or horse consists of avertical standard A, a tripod-support embracing three tripodlegs B B B,hinged or loosely connected at their upper ends with a ring D, whichslides on the standard, and radially-arranged hanging arms or bars O O,which are supported on a head. (Indicated as a whole in Fig. 1 by theletter A.) Said head comprises a central or web portion a and a marginaldownwardlyextending flange a, in which are formed openings (0 throughwhich the hanging bars extend, said openings continuing almost to themargin of the flange. The bars or arms O hang downwardly, as shown inFigs. 1 and 3, when not in use, and in order to bring them into theiroperative or horizontal positions they are first drawn upwardly throughthe 5 openings in the head and then swung outwardly to a horizontalposition, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. Said bars are provided at theirends with knobs 0 c, which prevent the bars from being accidentallywithdrawn from the head, and the knobs c at the lower ends of the barsare located a distance from said ends for a purpose hereinafter to beset forth. The head A is provided on the under surface thereof, just inrear of each opening through which the bars extend, with a pair oflaterallys'eparated lugs 60 a as more clearly shown in Fig. 6, betweenwhich the ends of the bars beyond the lower knobs 0 fit when said barsare in their horizontal positions, the interlocking 5 connection of saidbars with the lugs serving to hold the bars stationary with respect tothe head. The head is rotatively mounted on the standard A by beingcentrally apertured to fit over a reduced part or dowel A at the up- 7per end of the standard, and a cap A is fitted over said dowel and overthe head in the manner shown in Fig. 3, the parts being so arranged asto permit the head to rotate freely on the reduced upper end of thestandard. The inner parts or endsof the openings (0 of the head are madeof suificientdiameter to permit the knobs, which are preferably madeintegral with the bars, to pass therethrough when the bars are assembledon the head. The bars are so as- 30 sembled before the cap A is fittedto the head, and said cap is made of sufiicient diameter to overlap atits margins the inner or enlarged parts of the openings The outer partsof said openings are made smaller than the inner 5 parts, so that theknobs of the bars cannot pass therethrough, whereby it becomes necessaryto shift the bars radially inwardly to the larger parts of the openingsto remove the same. By reason of the overlapping engagement of the 9margin of the cap A with the inner or enlarged parts of said openings itwill be observed that when the cap is in place, as shown. in Figs. 2 and3, the bars cannot be removed, and that the said cap thereforeconstitutes a removable locking device on said head which normallyprevents said knobs from being withdrawn through said openings, eitherwhen hanging in the position shown in Fig. 3 or when being drawnupwardly preparatory to being brought into their horizontal positions.It will be observed that when said arms are in their horizontalpositions they are supported just outside the knobs (2 thereof on themarginal part a of the head and by engagement of the extreme endsthereof with the lugs a and that when in their inoperative positionsthey hang around the post or standard on the knobs c and engage with theouter or narrower parts of the openings in the head.

By the use of the construction described, whereby the knobs may beinserted through the openings in the head in the manner described andthereafter locked therein from accidental displacement, I am enabled toprovide the bars with integral knobs. This is a great advantage overbars made with knobs separate therefrom and attached thereto, inasmuchas in the latter construction considerable time is required to fit theknobs to the bars and there is great liability of the knobs becomingaccidentally detached.

The legs B are connected with the standard A through the medium of aring D, which slides endwise of the standard and is provided with lugs(Z, to which the upper ends of the legs are pivoted, said upper ends ofthe legs being slitted and the lugs fitted within the slits and beingloosely connected therewith or hinged thereto by means of transversepins (Z. Attached to the standard below the ring D is a guide, providedwith a plurality of radial guide-arms E E. A central socket E is fittedover the lower ends of the standard. Said guide arms are provided withopenings through which the legs B slide. The guide is attached to thestandard in any suitable manner by which it is secured non-rotative andrigidly thereto, so as to hold the legs when in their open positionsfirmly with respect to the standard. When the ring D is raised upwardly,the lower ends of the legs are brought together in the manner indicatedin dotted lines in Fig. 1, and when said ring is depressed to itslowermost position, said legs are thrown outwardly by reason of theirengagement with the guidein themannershownin. full lines in Fig. 1. Itmay be observed that the connection of the standard with the legs,whereby the same are made capable of being folded upon the standard inthe manner shown, may be varied, inasmuch as the details of this part ofthe structure constitute no part of the present invention. The generalarrangement of the manner of connecting the legs with the part whichslides endwise on the standard A, whereby said legs may be foldedupwardly against the standard, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1,is of considerable importance, however, when considered in connectionWith the features of construction whereby the hanging bars hangdownwardly around the standard when in their inoperative or unusedpositions, inasmuch as such construction renders it possible to collapsethe device when not in use into a space but little longer than thestandard. It may be observed that the standard in practice may be madeshorter than shown in Fig. 1-that is to say, a little longer than thehanging arms themselves. The device when folded therefore requires butlittle room for storage, and this is an important consideration both inthe home of the user and in the store of the merchant. At the same timethe device has great capacity for receiving clothes or other articles tobe dried or hung thereon.

So far as the general construction of the head and. means for lockingthe hanging bars therein is concerned, it will be obvious that the sameadvantages as before mentioned obtain whether or not the head herotative or whether or not it be made a full circle.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of a head provided with aplurality of openings, a plurality of barsengaging said openings andhaving knobs at their ends, said bars when in their inoperativepositions being adapted to hang downwardly from said head and supportedby their upper knobs and being adapted to be supported in horizontalpositions on said head in radially-disposed order, said openings of thehead being made sufliciently large to permit the knobs to passtherethrough, and a movable locking device on said head normallyrestricting said openings in a manner to pre vent the withdrawal of theknobs therethrough.

2. A clothes-horse comprising a vertical standard, a head thereon, aplurality of bars, which, when in their inoperative positions, hangdownwardly from said head in circular order around the standard withtheir lower ends free, means for supporting said bars horizontally inradially-disposed order around the head, supporting-legs connected withthe lower end of said standard and inclined downwardly and outwardlytherefrom when open and means whereby said legs when closed or foldedare moved into the space between the verticallyhanging bars and saidstandard.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention 1 aflix mysignature, in presence of two witnesses, this 12th day of June, A. D.1903.

THOMAS I. DUFFY.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM L. HALL, GERTRUDE Baron.

